On the sixth day of Christmas a Waste Elf gave to me 6 meals-a-planning

Christmas and food, they’re inseparable.

Whether you think of turkey, mince pies or chocolates hung on the tree, food is usually a large part of our celebrations. However, turkey sandwiches for a week after Christmas or not enough food to feed the 3 extra relatives you’d forgotten you’d invited can put a dampener on our festivities.

We and our Waste Elves are great fans of meal planning and with recent polls showing that each household is likely to spend on average £159 on food and drink this Christmas, it’ll be really annoying to see a lot of food (your money) getting thrown in the bin over the holidays.

Another bonus to planning your meals and writing a shopping list using your meal plan is that you’ll spend less time at the shops staring at all the different options or if you shop online you can avoid the queues altogether!

Where to start though?

You need to make the time. It’s an upfront investment that will pay you back – think how long you’d be queuing on the 23rd if you need just 2 items you’d forgotten…

You might also want to plan a few meals before Christmas to clear out space in your fridge, freezer and cupboards to make room for the festive food. There’s lots of foods you can buy now for Christmas and store until you need them – maybe the Waste Elves will give you some ideas on another day of Christmas!